Kong Vault. Precision. Cat Leap. The essentials, the bread and butter,
of most traceurs’ movement repertoire. There are certain movements that
get the most practice, that get the most attention, and that get the
most thought. This is understandable because they can be used in so
many different situations without changing the basic technique all that
much. But what about other situations, what about other movements?
Surely there are other, lesser known ways of moving through the
environment? Of course. And I’m going to highlight a few that I feel
don’t get the respect they deserve.
Read more to read about what I call speed QM, or the “Gorilla Gait.”
I think it’s safe to say that most is not all practitioners of parkour
and its related disciplines have trained quadrupedal movement at some
point or another. You know that silly looking walk where you get down
on all fours and move around on your hands and feet. Let’s be honest,
it may be a great exercise and develop some fantastic coordination, but
when it comes to movement and speed/efficiency, it’s nearly worthless.
Or is it? It seems like a lot of people are so worried with making sure
they have each foot and hand placed correctly that they’ve lost sight
of the speed aspect. Honestly, how many videos or real life situations
have you seen where someone uses the QM to progress their movement,
instead of balancing on a rail or conditioning? Not many as far as I
know.
Granted, if I’m in an open grass field, I’m not going to QM. I will
run. But what if I come out a roll and the only way to progress forward
is a tiny opening the size of a small window? Or there’s a small ledge
I need to traverse quickly, but standing and running would throw me off
balance? I could crawl on my stomach each time, but that would slow me
down immensely. I could QM, but if I only know the “perfect QM” motion,
I’ll still be slowed down. So then, why not tweak the motion and speed
it up?
Take a look at the following video of Canadian traceur Dim Monk. Good
stuff all around, but pay especially close attention to minute
2:00-2:08. Notice that smooth, galloping motion he did. That’s the
Gorilla Gait. It let him seamlessly connect movements that otherwise
would have looked jerky and stiff. His all around style is very low to
the ground, making his transitions, no matter the speed, smooth as silk.
Now the question is…what makes this movement different from a standard
QM? Well, like I described a second ago, it’s more of a gallop than a
walk. Picture a horse in your mind. When it’s walking, all the legs are
touching the ground one after the other. But when it runs, they move in
a sort of back legs-front legs motion, where they open and close like
fingers in a hand. In fact at certain points, none of their hooves are
touching the ground. Our primate cousins monkeys have a similar motion
when moving at fast speeds. Look at this picture.
None of its limbs are touching the grass. It is literally galloping
along, one-two, one-two, in a back-legs-then-front-legs motion. (Aka,
in unison) If it tried to run with all four legs moving at once it’d
trip itself up and fall flat on its face.
That’s the basic idea. Speed up your QM and watch new possibilities
unfold. The next time you’re out training, try this drill. Find an area
where you have a favorite line, a series of obstacles or movements
you’ve got down to instinct on two legs. Then get down on your hands
and toes and run it on all fours. No matter what it is, whether it
includes walls, rails, whatever, hit it fast on all fours and only rear
up when absolutely necessary. Truly get in touch with the monkey
within. You’ll quickly find that the Gorilla Gait comes naturally as a
response to the increased speed. And you’ll also find yourself viewing
old problem spots with new eyes, eyes that are lower to the ground, and
a mind more open to opportunities.
If you want some additional practice on all fours, take a look at Kind
David’s recent “Just Monkeying Around” video for inspiration. At the
very least you’ll think it’s cool looking.
Users' Comments
Display 19 of 19 comments
1.
05-04-2009 07:00
I am totally new to PK(4months) and I still spend a lot of time doing what I call ground work. i.e. Q.M. over open ground... Ground Kongs until they're perfect! A few other guys may jump ahead, catch their feet and smash their face. I love this good horse training. THX
2.
05-04-2009 09:17
Start playing QM tag with bunch of people. You will want to gallop if you don't want to get caught or if your want to catch anyone.
3.
05-04-2009 09:25
I absolutely love this! I call it the "gorilla gallop," but who cares, right? I think King David's 2008 demo has some great gorilla'ing in it, too.
Here's the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HvGy7QRZS-I The really great parts are at 1:16 and 2:48, but there are some other parts (like 0:43) that show how having a good knowledge of this kind of movement can help you flow through obstacles.
Try that second video out. I use monkey walking as a warmup, but King shows that it can be a full freaking workout!
4.
05-04-2009 09:58
This guy is fantastic. WOW...talk about serious flow. Mad props to Dim Monk.
5.
05-04-2009 10:16
VERY impressive flow!!
6.
05-04-2009 10:29
There are tons of forms of quadrupedal movement lots are usefull for getting under stuff I use a sideways gallop more often then the forward gallop for getting under objects but there both usefull. I use gallops and what I call kong gallop as drills to develop the kong in my students its amazing how much faster people learn by building skills from the ground level.
7.
05-04-2009 11:25
awsome. great movemnet. QM's really do help out in actual parkour becuase its moving like an animal. isnt that wat parkour kinda is?
8.
05-04-2009 12:33
Good stuff. I've used QM a few times, but this clarified alot. Awesome read!!!
9.
05-04-2009 16:25
My friends and i made up a game 3 years ago called hillbilly tag. Whoever's it is blindfolded, everyone else is QM galloping. Good conditioning too.
10.
05-04-2009 16:42
ha i do this all the time its so much fun
11.
05-04-2009 18:49
I've done this for a long time, but never thought to add it to parkour.
12.
05-05-2009 06:43
Haha I've been teaching this at informal classes here on Long Island for a couple months now, after I saw that exact same video. Good stuff Sky.
13.
05-06-2009 08:56
Great article, I already see this as a fantastic addtion to my training!
14.
05-08-2009 13:57
i dont get why everyone is saying what they do is special. this form of movement has been practiced for years by breakdancers.
15.
05-09-2009 15:34
Great Traceur. Very nice flow at 2:25 and on
16.
05-18-2009 18:56
I really like the whole gorilla approach to things. It feels so good to have a flow that is so even when moving. I wrestle with my dogs in the same way.
17.
05-20-2009 17:15
This reminds me alot of the drills we used in wrestling to help you scramble.
18.
06-12-2009 16:45
I'm 15 and i can't even to this! my knees are so bad it Hurts! it HURTS to crouch down like that even for a second or two. Does anyone know if there is anything cheap i can do for that?
19.
07-04-2009 10:21
try streching and maybe talk to a doctor or something
Display 19 of 19 comments
Only registered users can comment an article. Please login or register.
